


Kept

by stereobone



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 09:33:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9173911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stereobone/pseuds/stereobone
Summary: "Did you…buy me a dog collar?" Hux asks, anger rising from his lungs."No!" Kylo says, quickly. "No. It's…for me. I thought you might like to put it on me."





	

Kylo shows up at Hux's apartment with a small black box one night. He shucks his jacket and sets the box on Hux's kitchen table. Hux cannot begin to imagine what's inside.

"What is this," he says.

"It's a gift," Kylo says. "Obviously, you open it."

Hux picks the box up and examines it instead. This close, he can see there's a snakeskin pattern etched into the black. He shakes the box a bit. Barely any sound, but something definitely shifts. They've never once bought each other anything remotely close to a gift. Across from him, Kylo wipes his palms against his jeans. He's nervous. Hux frowns.

"Is this some sort of mock anniversary present?" he asks. "Because you're a bit early. Or do you think it's my birthday—"

"Hux, just open the fucking box already," Kylo says.

So Hux does. He pulls the lid off, and inside is a black leather collar, coiled neatly, innocently. There are no tags on it, just simple black leather and a silver buckle.

"Did you…buy me a dog collar?" Hux asks, anger rising from his lungs.

"No!" Kylo says, quickly. "No. It's…for me. I thought you might like to put it on me."

"You have an odd concept of gift-giving," Hux says, but his cheeks are hot, imagining it. "You want me to put this on you?"

Kylo isn't looking at him anymore. "If you want."

Hux swallows. The first time they slept together, Hux told Kylo the next morning he wasn't looking for a relationship, and Kylo said he wasn't either. He honestly hadn't considered seeing Kylo again after that first night, but then Kylo sought him out, and Hux found himself not wanting to say no. Months later, he still doesn't. They aren't dating—they have sex, a lot, sometimes eat together or get drinks together, and, occasionally, and only because there is no one else around, comfort each other. But they aren't in a relationship.

"Turn around," Hux says, pulling the collar out of the box.

Kylo finally looks at him, eyes glassy. He turns around without a word. Hux slips the collar around his neck. His fingers brush the hot skin of Kylo's throat, and then Hux realizes he's shaking a little. He takes a breath and then slides the buckle shut. Without thinking, Hux tugs on the collar just a bit. Kylo gasps.

"Too tight?" Hux asks. His groin feels heavy now.

"It's fine," Kylo says.

He turns around, and he does look fine with that thin strap of black around his white throat, pressing against his Adam's apple. Hux wants to put his hands all over him.

"You look like an industrial club whore," he says.

Kylo runs his eyes over Hux's face, trying to read whether he's just been complimented or insulted. With Hux, it's very often both.

"You look good," Hux adds, and it's worth it to see the way Kylo's face softens for him.

Hux rides him, that night, thighs trembling. He can't take his eyes off the collar, and the way it strains against Kylo's neck as he bucks his hips up, trying to fuck deeper. Hux doesn't understand why Kylo bought it. But Kylo says nothing more about the collar, so Hux doesn't either. Kylo leaves the next afternoon and Hux lazes in bed smoking, happy and sore.

\--

A few days later they meet for a drink at the bar. They'll go to Hux's after, as they usually do. Though Kylo's own apartment is neat, which pleasantly surprised Hux the first time he'd gone there, he prefers being in his own environment. Kylo has never complained about it.

He takes a seat at a high top and orders two red wines. Kylo comes in shortly after, wearing a gray sweater, and the collar. Hux takes a quick sip of his wine and stares openly. Kylo's hair is up in a ponytail, and that makes the collar stand out even more.

"Did you wear that all day?" Hux asks. "At work?"

"Yeah," Kylo says, as if that isn't odd at all. It wouldn't have stopped Kylo either way.

Hux's head feels light, but not from the wine. Kylo bought himself a collar. He bought himself a collar and asked Hux to put it on him, as if Hux were his _owner._ He watches Kylo swallow the wine. More specifically, he watches the collar. He leans over the high top and into Kylo's space.

"What kind of game are you playing?" he asks. "You want me to treat you like a dog, Kylo?"

Kylo's lips press tight.

"What do _you_ want?" he asks.

Hux pulls back, more aware now of where they are.

"I want to enjoy my wine," he says. "And then I went to take you home and fuck you like a dog. How's that?"

"That's fine," Kylo says, only he doesn't sound very enthusiastic about the whole thing.

 _What's wrong_ sits at the tip of Hux's tongue, but he swallows the words. This isn't who they are. They're not boyfriends. What he and Kylo have, it's good. It works. Hux has never seen anyone as long and as consistently as Kylo. He's always broken things off after a few months for any reason he could find. With Kylo, Hux hasn't really considered finding a reason yet.

They finish their wine and go home together, though the next morning, Kylo leaves earlier than usual.

\--

A week later, they happen to be at the same party. Hux hasn't seen Kylo since they met up at the bar, and that's fine, really. He's been busy at work, busy avoiding his father's phone calls, busy not texting Kylo. It's Kylo who usually texts Hux the most, every day, in fact. But he's been oddly quiet over the last week, quiet enough that Hux is wondering if he's seeing someone else. Technically, he's allowed to. They both are. Hux just hadn't considered that Kylo actually would.

He walks into the apartment of an old college friend, and there, sitting on the couch drinking a beer, is Kylo. He's wearing a dark red striped tee that cuts into a V-shape slightly at the neck. He's not wearing the collar. It's suddenly strange to see him without it, as if he used to wear it the whole time they'd known each other. It makes Hux stupid angry, that Kylo asked him to put the damn collar on him in the first place and then took it off only a week later.

Kylo catches sight of Hux by the door. He watches Hux openly, beer bottle paused at his lips. Rather than go to him, Hux beelines for the kitchen to grab a drink. The whole reason Hux had agreed to go out to this party was to stop mulling over Kylo, and now he's here. Hux slips past a couple exiting the kitchen and opens the fridge. All shitty craft beer, but he grabs a can anyway. As soon as he gets the tab open, Kylo steps into the kitchen.

"Hey," he says.

"Kylo."

Kylo taps his empty beer bottle against the counter.

"I didn't know you were coming," he says. "You should have called."

"You had every opportunity," Hux says, and hates how desperate the words feel.

"So you were waiting for me to call?"

"Of course not."

Kylo rips the fridge door open and grabs another beer bottle. Hux isn't sure the bottle cap is twist-off, but Kylo twists it open anyway and takes a long pull.

"You don't even care that I'm mad, do you?"

Hux pauses. He hadn't considered Kylo being mad. He cannot, for the life of him, imagine what Kylo is mad about. And he refuses to ask.

"We aren't boyfriends," he says. "So if you're expecting me to buy you flowers and grovel, you're wasting your breath."

Someone steps into the kitchen, but after seeing they'd need to pass Kylo and Hux for the fridge, steps back out immediately. Once they're gone, Kylo is standing closer to Hux, looming. His eyes are always a darker brown when he's angry.

"You've made that clear many times," Kylo says. "I'm just wondering how that's working out for you."

Hux doesn't get the chance to answer. Kylo moves back and out of the kitchen, his mostly full beer left behind. There's chatting in the other room, and Hux hears Kylo's soft laughter. Hux goes to the sink and pours his beer out. He watches the amber liquid disappear down the drain. He knows he should probably leave. Instead, he goes back into the main room.

Everyone sits around talking when it gets later. People are curled up on the couches, some perched on the coffee table or on the floor. Kylo is sitting on the carpet, legs stretched out. Hux stands a respectful distance away behind the couch. The first time he met Kylo was in this very room, at a party much like this one. Kylo was coworkers with a mutual acquaintance, that's how it had been explained. He looked miserable at that party, and Hux wanted him almost too much. Kylo is barely looking at him now as people exchange stories about bad online dates.

"I couldn't do that," Kylo says. "I hate wasting my time."

"It can be good, though, when you're single," someone says. "Wait, Kylo. Are you single?"

"Technically," says Kylo.

He brings his hand up and touches the hollow of his throat absently, where a collar might sit. Hux's gut jumps into his throat. He drops his empty beer can onto the wood floor, and some people look over, including Kylo. Hux doesn't pay attention to them. He looks only at Kylo, unable to do anything but that for nearly five minutes. When he finally gets his bearings back, Hux steps quietly out of the main room. Kylo follows quickly. Hux turns and grabs his wrist, squeezes.

"I'm ready to leave," he says.

Kylo glances briefly back to the main room.

"…Okay," he says.

They slip out without even saying goodbye, Hux walking too fast in the cool night air. Even with his slightly longer legs, Kylo is struggling to keep up. Hux leads them to Kylo's apartment, neither one speaking. Once they're inside, Hux goes straight to bedroom, and Kylo follows.

"Where is it?" he asks.

"Where's what?"

Hux is done playing. He doesn't know how he even fell into this in the first place.

"The collar, Kylo. Where is it?"

Kylo grabs the collar from his bedside table. There's a slight dent in the leather from where the buckle had been fastened. He gives the collar to Hux without a word. Hux wants to strangle him with it, or maybe burn the damn thing. Instead, he slips the leather back around Kylo's throat. He wants the collar back on Kylo's neck. He needs it there. Hux isn't gentle about fastening the collar again. Some of Kylo's skin pinches and pinks from where it catches against the buckle. Hux thumbs the leather once he's got it fastened, and puts pressure against the trachea. Kylo sighs.

"So what is this, Kylo?"

Kylo's pupils are already blown, full of sick-eyed want.

"Tell me," Hux says.

Kylo takes Hux's hand in his own. "You can't be that stupid."

Hux stares. It occurs to him for the first time that when Kylo said he wasn't interested in a relationship either, he was saying it just to keep seeing Hux. A lot of things, at this moment, occur to Hux for the first time.

"Is that it?" Hux asks. "You want to be mine?"

Rather than answer, Kylo kisses him, hard. Then it's like a switch has been flipped. Kylo's hands roam under Hux's shirt and press into the skin of his back, pulling him closer. Hux lets his fingers fan over Kylo's neck, over the collar. It feels good, to have Kylo pressed against him like this again. They pull their shirts off, and Hux can't stop looking at Kylo. He traces the collar again. He likes the way Kylo shivered when he does so.

"Do you want to be my dog, Kylo? Do you want me to keep you?"

Kylo tries to kiss him again, but Hux pulls back.

"Hux…"

"Maybe I should buy you a leash, too."

Hux leans in and licks a stripe over the leather and the salty skin of Kylo's neck. Kylo squeezes his hips.

"Actually," he says. "It came with a leash."

Hux pulls back again.

"Pardon?"

"It was…" Kylo winces. "Well it was cheaper to buy them as a set, so—"

"Show me," Hux says, mouth dry.

Kylo steps away and bends down to reach under the bed. Hux likes that he kept the leash under there, like some filthy secret. He pulls the leash out and presents it to Hux. It's the same black leather as his collar.

"You don't have to," Kylo says. "I know what you said. I know we aren't—"

"I want to," Hux says. "Don't presume what I want ever again."

He clips the leash onto the buckle of the collar and watches the leather loop down over Kylo's chest.

"You look so good like this."

"I want you," Kylo says.

Hux tugs the leash. Kylo meets him like that, and then they're kissing again. Hux palms Kylo's crotch and Kylo whines, fingers jumping to undo the button on his jeans. When Kylo is finally naked, he stands there, thick and collared and willing to give Hux everything. Hux can't remember why he'd been resisting it before.

"Stop…stop staring," Kylo says. "Get on the bed."

Hux tugs the leash again, and Kylo stills, waits.

"Good boy," Hux says.

Kylo lets himself be led to the bed. Hux keeps the leash taut in his hand. He's shaking. He feels like he can't let go, or Kylo will slip away from him completely. Hux slips between Kylo's spread legs and pulls him up by the leash for another kiss. Kylo licks into his mouth and then nuzzles Hux's cheek.

"Stop playing with me," he says.

His voice is wrecked. Hux pauses. He likes Kylo like this, completely his. He likes that Kylo didn't want another, hadn't even thought of that. He imagines Kylo buying that ridiculous collar and leash, nervous and brash. Hux doesn't want him with anyone else.

"I'm not," he says, and means it.

Later, Hux will admit they've been a couple all along and never had a chance at being anything else, but for now, he's content to watch Kylo's pathetically cute little smile. Hux fingers him open while still holding the leash. His pull is just tight enough that Kylo really has to concentrate on breathing. He watches Kylo's stomach muscles quiver and twitch, his cock jumping every time Hux brushes his prostate. After a few minutes, Kylo swears he's ready, always wants it too soon. This time, Hux gives it to him. Kylo hooks his knees over Hux's shoulders as he fucks into him. Hux leans in and nips at Kylo's jaw, trails down over the collar until he can bury his face in Kylo's neck and just breathe him in. Kylo moans, louder than Hux has ever heard him before.

"You never answered me before," he says, breath hot. "Do you want to be mine, Kylo?"

His grip on the leash has gotten tighter. He hears Kylo swallow heavily, but he doesn't ask him to loosen his grip. Hux lets his pace slow a bit, and that brings Kylo to life.

"I want you to keep me," he says, the words coming out in one rushed breath. "Don't stop, Hux, fuck."

Hux pushes himself upright and snaps his hips, pace faster than before. He's so aroused he can feel it radiating in his hands, balls pulled so tight it's nearly uncomfortable. Kylo's hair is fanned against the pillow, mouth swollen and open, eyes fluttered shut. He looks perfect. Hux feels like he could fuck him all night.

"Touch yourself," he says, and Kylo doesn't need to be told twice.

He jerks himself quickly, body tightening. Hux's hips stutter as Kylo squeezes around him, milking it. He has his free hand pressed to the mattress, and Kylo grabs his wrist like some kind of anchor. Little noises keep bubbling up from his throat, soft chants of _yeah, fuck, like that._ Hux slides out almost to the head and then pushes back in, and Kylo's breath jumps out of him, cock twitching. He's close. Hux can always tell.

"Come for me," he says. "Be a good little dog."

"God, I hate you," Kylo says, and then comes all over his chest with the collar stressed against his throat.

The sight of that brings Hux to the edge. He speeds up, desperate to come now, already so far into Kylo's orbit he never could have pulled away, even if he wanted to. Hux swears when his orgasm hits, faintly aware of Kylo encouraging him through it, fondly calling him an asshole. He still has the leash tight in his hand. There's a soft, still moment after with Hux still inside of him. Kylo musses at Hux's hair, fucked out and smug looking. Hux lets go of the leash so he can pull out properly. There's an angry red stripe of red cut into his palm. He doesn't care. Kylo relaxes back into the mattress and wipes at the mess on his stomach. There are drops of come on the leash. Hux unhooks it and lets it drop to the floor. When he reaches to unfasten the collar, Kylo stops him.

"Don't, I like it."

Hux drops his hand to Kylo's chest instead, nails scratching at his reddened skin. Kylo is such a strange thing. Hux could probably buy him a tag for the collar that says 'HUX' and Kylo would still wear it. Hux doesn't think he really deserves that, but he's selfish enough that he won't say no. He'll take anything Kylo gives him, and he knows Kylo feels the same. They're horrible for each other, he thinks, and smiles. Kylo cocks his head, then leans in and Hux kisses him, slow and wet.

"I want you," Kylo says against his mouth.

Hux traces the leather of the collar again. It's so tangible. Real. He brings his fingers to his own neck, pressing against the naked skin there.

"You already have me," he says. 

He means that, too.

**Author's Note:**

> I had to make this a modern au because who could even tell if Kylo was wearing a collar in that ridiculous outfit of his. Anyway.
> 
> This is the latest birthday present of all time for the super amazing [chromedqueen](http://chromedqueen.tumblr.com/). I adore you and I'm sorry this took me literally seven months to write and is also not what you originally asked for. :D I'm a great friend! Wow!
> 
> find me on twitter: @stereoroo


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